The UPS cargo aircraft crew tried to regulate the plane for about 25 seconds earlier than it crashed right into a ball of flames shortly after taking off from Louisville Muhammad Ali Worldwide Airport in Kentucky on Tuesday, officers stated Friday based mostly on preliminary info, because the demise toll within the incident has risen to 14.
A Nationwide Transportation Security Board official detailed the ultimate moments within the cockpit of the UPS aircraft based mostly on a evaluate of the audio from the cockpit voice recorder.
Jon Cherry/AP – PHOTO: Smoke and flames rising from the location of a UPS cargo aircraft crash exterior Louisville Worldwide Airport in Louisville, Kentucky, November 4, 2025.
The official, Todd Inman, stated the crew accomplished their commonplace guidelines and briefing and the takeoff roll was uneventful.
“About 37 seconds after the crew known as for takeoff thrust, a repeating bell was heard” on the cockpit voice recorder, Inman stated throughout a press briefing on Friday.
The bell “endured till the tip of recording 25 seconds later,” when the aircraft is believed to have crashed, he stated.
Kentucky Truck Components & Service by way of Reuters – PHOTO: Smoke and flames rise as a UPS cargo aircraft crashes in Louisville, Kentucky, November 4, 2025.
“Throughout this time the crew engaged in efforts to try to regulate the plane earlier than the crash,” he stated.
Inman stated the bell could have indicated that there was a fireplace, as was evident from footage of the incident, however added that he didn’t need to speculate too far.
“The FDR [flight data recorder] knowledge and the examination by the teams on that may give us much more granularity and be capable to assist paint a greater image,” he stated.
Loss of life toll rises to 13 after UPS aircraft crashed at Louisville airport: Officers
The NTSB will work to supply a written transcript of the cockpit voice recorder audio, which will probably be made public probably a number of months from now, he stated.
UPS Flight 2976 crashed round 5:15 p.m. native time on Tuesday, officers stated. The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 freighter aircraft was headed to Daniel Ok. Inouye Worldwide Airport in Honolulu, when the aircraft’s left engine indifferent after a “giant plume of fireside” erupted from the aircraft’s left wing, in accordance with the NTSB.
NTSB – PHOTO: An aerial view offered by the NTSB of the crash web site of a UPS cargo aircraft at Muhammad Ali Worldwide Airport in Louisville, Kentucky, November 6, 2025.
Inman stated the majority of the left engine pylon was nonetheless hooked up to the left engine when the engine separated from the wing. Each elements are in a safe facility present process additional examination.
The NTSB discovered further items of the engine attachment within the grass close to the runway, he stated. Investigators will conduct one other sweep with a steel detector afterward Friday.
As crews continued to go looking by means of a half-mile of charred particles, a sufferer was positioned on the crash web site on Friday, in accordance with Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg. That brings the confirmed demise toll from the incident to 14, with the three pilots on board believed to be amongst these killed.
“We pray for every of the victims’ households, and pray that no further victims are misplaced as our first responders proceed to go looking and search solutions that all of us are in search of,” he stated in a video assertion.
As of Thursday, 9 people believed to have been close to the scene on the time of the crash have been additionally lacking.
Editor’s Observe: This story has been up to date to right the title of the NSTB official who briefed reporters on the investigation into the crash.